Interview: Gary Numan

Some of the songs have an industrial feel and the title track has that trademark Gary Numan synth sound on it, doesn’t it?

I guess so. I think the album definitely sounds like a Gary Numan record, but you’re always trying to find new sounds and move forward.

Do you use a lot of vintage synths or gear?

No – nothing at all. Strangely enough, I don’t have any synthesisers in my studio. It’s quite high tech, with a big 42’ touchscreen, which has all my software on it, two speakers and one keyboard to control my computer. All of my sounds, effects and processing are virtual. There is nothing legacy in my studio from an equipment point of view.

The song ‘The Gift’ has some Middle Eastern-sounding strings on it – it’s very cinematic…

The first three songs – ‘Betrayed’, ‘The Gift’ and ‘I Am Screaming’ – all use an instrument called a yaybahar, which it’s the only one of its kind in the world. It was invented by Gorkem Sen, who’s a Turkish man living in Cyprus. To have something unique like that on the album is amazing.

It’s not a synthesiser – it’s entirely organic and it’s the most mental-looking thing you’ve ever seen, with big, long springs attached to drums. It’s played with a bow.

I’m a fan of Middle Eastern melodies and sounds – the album has that flavour running through it.

The album was partially written and recorded during lockdown. Some of the current themes around coronavirus have found their way into a few of the songs, like ‘The Gift’, which imagines COVID-19 as the first weapon that the planet, which has been ravaged by global warming, deploys in order to eradicate mankind and once again flourish. When did you start working on the album?

A couple of years ago, so it was well under way by the time COVID-19 came along – two thirds of it was done. It already had its theme – the planet and climate change, and, strangely enough, I’d already had the idea that viruses were a part of the Earth fighting back.

In the past, you’ve written songs about technology, sci-fi and futuristic themes. Are you someone who’s worried about your carbon footprint and the future of the planet? You’re not an eco-warrior, are you?

I’m not an eco-warrior! It’s a difficult and sensitive thing to talk about. One of the things I’ve noticed is that if you put your head above the parapet and start talking about climate change, you are immediately judged for your climate credentials: “Do you have an electric car, or do you fly on airliners?”

I feel like saying, “go f**k yourself!” We live in the world we live in – if you want to get about or travel to a conference in Salzburg, or wherever, you’ve got to fly. Let’s not be silly – we don’t have electric planes, so don’t be stupid and start analysing my internal combustion miles and using it against me. The real topic is: how are we going to go about changing it from what it is now into something better?

If someone like me, with a tiny voice and a tiny bit of art, can add something to the argument to keep that conversation alive that’s a good thing. Don’t start having a go at me because I’ve got a V8 car! I’ve got an electric car as well – it gets childish. Do you know what I mean?

To be fair, you were writing about electricity and cars in the late ‘70s. Did you predict the electric car?

[Laughs]. I wish!